Men’s Basketball Tips-Off 2018-19 Season at Home on Wednesday Night against Lafayette

The men’s basketball team opens up its 89th campaign at home against Lafayette

Game 1
Saint Peter's (0-0) vs. Lafayette (0-0)
Date: Wednesday, November 7
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Yanitelli Center, Jersey City, NJ
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New Season

The Saint Peter's University men's basketball team opens up its 89th season on Wednesday night in Jersey City at the Yanitelli Center against Lafayette.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The home-opener will be the first career game for head coach Shaheen Holloway.
Since 1946-47, the Peacocks are 5-4 in head coaches' debuts.
Over the past 50 years, when Saint Peter's opens the season at home, the team has posted a record of 18-9 in those games.

Series History with Lafayette

The Peacocks and the Leopards will be matching up for the 16th time in the series history with Saint Peter's trailing the all-time series 6-9 since 1954-55.
This will be the third straight season that the teams meet, with Lafayette holding a 2-1 edge over the Peacocks over the three season.
The teams have collided in two previous season openers in 2003-04 and 2016-17, with Lafayette winning both those games at the Yanitelli Center.
The Peacocks took last season's meeting from the Leopards, picking up an 86-82 victory on the road.
Nick Griffin '18 poured in a career and game-high 37 points in the win, the most points for a Saint Peter's player since 2006 (Keydren "Kee Kee" Clark).

Scouting the Leopards

The Lafayette Leopards enter the 2018-19 season following a 10-21 season last year, with seven of the wins coming in Patriot League play.
The Leopards advanced to the conference quarterfinal round after picking up a first-round win over American.
Sophomore Alex Petrie is the team's top returner after averaging 15.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last season.
Petrie was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year, and he earned all-conference honors with selections to the third and rookie teams.

MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll

The Peacocks were selected 10th by the coaches in the preseason coaches' poll, receiving 28 votes after finishing eighth last season and making a historical run into the MAAC semifinal round of the 2018 MAAC Championship.

Meet the 2018-19 Squad

The Peacocks return two starters and nine letterwinners from last year's team, while adding six newcomers.

Returning Duo of Starters

The Peacocks return the duo of Samuel Idowu and Quinn Taylor, who both started all 32 games last season for Saint Peter's.
Idowu, a redshirt-senior, is the team's top returning scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker. He averaged 11.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game last season.
A junior, Taylor logged more minutes than any returning Peacock in 2017-18. He averaged 7.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per outing a year ago. Taylor is the squad's top returning stealer, after making 33 steals last year.

Returning to the Squad

The team returns seniors Davauhnte Turner and Mamadou Ndiaye, juniors Cameron Jones and Amir Hicks, sophomore Cameron Underwood, and redshirt-freshmen duo Manny Dixon and Mikko Johnson.
Turner made 11 starts last season and averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. He is the Peacocks' top assists returner after handing out 61 assists last year.
Ndiaye appeared in 31 games a year ago, with averages of 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Jones appeared in all 32 games and made one start last season. He posted a stat line of 6.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game.
Hicks saw action in three games last season.
Dixon comes into the season after sitting out in 2017-18, but the redshirt-freshman is projected to be a starter in the upcoming season.

Welcome to Jersey City

The Peacocks welcome six newcomers to Jersey City this season, which includes four freshmen and two transfers.
The four freshmen joining the team this year are Klay Brown, Majur Majak, KC Ndefo, and Dallas Watson.
The two transfers are Nazeer Bostick from Penn State and Derrick Woods from Delaware.
Bostick will sit out the 2018-19 season, while Woods will become eligible in the second half of the season.

Back Together Again

The Peacocks have two pairs of players who played their high school basketball together.
The junior combination of Cameron Jones and Derrick Woods both played at Pennsbury in Pennsylvania and the freshmen duo of Klay Brown and KC Ndefo each played at Abraham Lincoln in Brooklyn, NY.

New Leader of the Peacocks

First year head coach Shaheen Holloway will lead the Peacocks in 2018-19.
Holloway brings superlative credentials to Jersey City after spending the past eight seasons as the associate head coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall, under Kevin Willard.
With Holloway on the sideline serving as Willard's top assistant, Seton Hall became one of the BIG EAST's premier programs, winning the 2015-16 BIG EAST Tournament title for the first time since 1993.
From 2016 to 2018, Seton Hall recorded three straight 20-win seasons, the first time the program had done that since 1991-93, and three straight BIG EAST seasons of 10 wins or more for the first time in program history with Holloway.
Holloway helped Seton Hall advance to the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons and in 2018, the Pirates won the program's first NCAA Tournament game since 2004 with him on the bench.

Joining Holloway on the Sideline

Joining Holloway as assistant coaches are Ryan Whalen, Matt Eisele, and John Morton. Brian Petruzzelli joins as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach and Erik Goldbach joins as the Director of Basketball Operations.

Back in the MAAC

Holloway, Whalen, and Morton all return to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Holloway and Whalen both coached at Iona previously, while Morton not only returns to the MAAC but also Saint Peter's, having served on the staff as an assistant from 2006-10

Seton Hall Ties

Holloway's staff also has deep ties to Seton Hall.
Holloway was a player and assistant coach for the Pirates, Whalen was an assistant coach there, Morton played for Seton Hall, and Petruzzelli worked a number of basketball clinics at the South Orange school.

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